Building an HR Technology Strategy

HR professionals are focused on building the best team they can, with the budget they have, in order to propel their company to the best that it can be. Hours are spent recruiting, hiring, training, and “putting out fires”, a never-ending cycle of work. The HR tools available in the industry are wide-ranging, and with the power of technology, they are constantly changing and evolving.

From PDF and record-based systems, to AI and content-based systems, it takes time to learn and understand what systems help you work efficiently, while maintaining strict compliance laws.

According to Business.com, HR professionals spend the following amount of their total time on the respective areas:

21.8% meeting with senior staff and business partners

15.3% on employee relations and engagement

13.6% meeting with employees

12.7% developing HR strategy

The rest of the time is split between recruiting, operations management, onboarding, redundancy management, personal management, administrative work, and more. However, through all of these areas, there is a common thread that runs through them all, and that’s compliance. In the vast majority of work for today’s HR professional, there is a consideration of compliance at play, whether it be I-9 forms, open enrollment, or training (such as sexual harassment training). Compliance is challenging, as laws and regulations consistently change, and failure in compliance is costly.

So if you’re using 12.7% of your time developing HR strategy, here are a few things to consider when building your strategy:

TECHNOLOGY WINS THE DAY

I could likely end this blog on this point alone. Quite simply, the advances of AI and automation make technology the absolute requirement for your HR processes. Intelligent automation allows for consistency, a hallmark factor in all systems and processes. The ability to do the same thing over and over again, leading to completion and compliance, is critical to any HR process.

AI and intelligent bots can assure that defined steps are followed in order, and in a timely manner, guaranteeing the work-flow continues, even without constant human effort.

Cloud-based systems save needed documents, assuring that important documents are kept and able to be found at the touch of a secured “button”. Many of today’s business are moving towards, and have already moved, to paperless. Cloud based-systems keep records, allowing for security and sometimes needed recall. Compliance requires you to fulfill the regulations, AND to PROVE that you’ve done them. Cloud-based technology helps you to fulfill both of these mandates.

Cloud-based systems also make way for updates to software. Whether it be an update to the main software, or if you want to add another HRTech tool to your process, updates and new processes can be downloaded without having to purchase an entirely new system. Not only is this more efficient, but it also saves you money!

CONSISTENCY AND EFFICIENCY

If there’s one thing that will drive you crazy, it will be having multiple compliance systems to handle multiple processes. I see it every day, and that’s why people come to us. Jumping between PDFs, to email, to Paychex, to I-9 E-verify, and a myriad of other processes is inefficient and costly.

Additionally, using multiple processes leaves gaps in your compliance issues. The key to a solid HR strategy is to decrease risk and remove gaps from your compliance, while maintaining efficiency and consistency. You also want to accomplish this without breaking the bank, and multiple processes is guaranteed to cost you more money.

If you’re logging in and out of multiple processes, and/or using records-based systems, you may feel confident in what you’re doing, but you also know the gaps in your compliance issues. You also probably feel the mental burn from running from one system to another. By leveraging technology, you can put multiple processes into ONE system, assuring all the things you want and need in your system.

FLEXIBILITY

Leverage a technology that allows for flexibility. True flexibility comes via customized platforms. Many systems are “all or nothing” systems. These systems offer most, or everything, you may want or need in your HR system, however they also come with things you DON’T want. What does this mean for you? It means that you end up paying for components that you don’t want or need.

Customized platforms can give you the specific processes that are essential to your business, saving you money. Even better, transactional models of payment for your platform guarantee that you only pay for what you need, and only when you use it!

THE EQUATION

The equation is pretty simple when developing your HR strategy. By leveraging technology, you can create consistency and efficiency. These systems deliver compliance, and then assure you can PROVE your compliance when it’s reviewed. The important thing is to find the right technology for your business!

If you’re looking for help in developing your HR strategy, we’d love to help you! Contact us today to see how we can help you Work. Compliant.

Ben Olson is the Chief Technology Officer of Essium, a premiere software company that has developed a revolutionary, customizable, onboarding compliance platform named PRYDE that leverages the power of intelligent bots. With the use of intelligent forms and AI automation, PRYDE can increase onboarding consistency and remove compliance risks, helping HR professionals DISCOVER COMPLIANCE.